10 years

In the documentary movie named "Jiro dreams of sushi", Jiro the artisan told it took 10 years to make a good sushi. And in an interview with a girl learning traditional medicine, she shared with me that her teacher required her 10 years commitment to complete the study.

10 years, it takes a lot of time and effort to become expert in any field. As a well - known rule: 10,000 hours of concentrating practice to succeed to a large extent in your desired area. 10 years, isn't it long? I know I can't spend 10 years of my life to make sushi, or to study medicine (although I really love to be a traditional doctor). Asking myself again the question, what would I do if I have to spend 10 years of my life doing one repeatedly. I would say: writing. Writing, is always my final answer. 

But see again, what am I doing now? Not writing diligently. Thoughts come and go, if I don't capture them, they'll vanish like vapor. Looking back to my activities, the hurdle to my success is the inconsistency. I'm not always doing what I want to do, and when I set the goal to myself, I don't follow it strictly.

So now again to remind myself about things I have to do, here's the list:

1/ 30 minutes writing everyday. 30 minutes. Every day. Elizabeth Gilbert told set the clock and sit down and write for 30 mins. Chris Guillebeau suggested to write 1,000 words each day to become a professional writer. If I want to be a writer, just write. "Professional writer is like porn, we don't just work when the fit is on, we work everyday, when we are required to". So write with schedule, and practice with sweat, and pain. It's inevitable. 

2/ Read 20 pages a day if that's an English book, and 50 - 100 pages for a Vietnamese book. Books make good writers, there aren't no writers who do not read. So read as I'm doing now and speed it up. Just make it more scientifically, more systematically, more efficiently. 

3/ 10 - 20 new words a day. Learning English is the fundamental goal. Studying abroad? English. Integrating with the world? English. Becoming a global citizen? English. Besides, an average Vietnamese writer is paid very low, 10% of his book, while a writer in US/UK earns a lot more than that (30 - 50% as mentioned in "On writing" of Stephen King if I don't remember wrongly, anyway this info needs to be checked). So it is crucial to improve my English as a native - like speaker. 

4/ 30 minute exercise daily. No need to explain much. In a sound body resides a sound mind. Especially with exhausting job like writing, we need space to release the stress and re-charge energy. Innumerable writers take running as their habit. And who do not end up having unhealthy lives I believe. 

5/ 30 minute video everyday. Either it can be Ted talk video clip, or inspiring video, or MOOC courses. Pay more time to MOOC courses, there is a enormous reservoir of knowledge there in MOOC. Take full advantage of it. 

Well, that's it for now. 

There is a fact that I haven't been at the peak of my mood lately, craving to be on the road, longing for a free life, hating the office work. But my dear friend just told me to relax, and plan what I want to do, and reminding me that I'm on the right track and just keep walking. So I took his advice, just breathe, and keep doing what I'm doing, at the best of it. Doing my job perfectly, writing and reading everyday, planning accordingly. I found my talent and my passion, now comes the point where I need to seek for the sweet spot of conjunction between my talent and passion with the market's demand. And that's the hardest part. So be patient, and keep working. 

And whenever there is anything flashes on my mind, either euphoria or sorrow, just write it down. That's the best time to write down. Writing is a remedy.